Dreamland
by EmmyH
Summary: SG-1 finds a planet with a strange secret. Sam collapses on the planet. Will she be okay? What's happening to Daniel and Jack? What's going on here?
1. Chapter 1

Hi!

Ratingfor this is prob. PG, might get PG-13 for language...uh, this is my first fanfic, so be nice...Hope you like it!

-Emmy

"Knock knock," said Jack, pantomiming the motion onto the open door frame of Carter's lab.  
  
Carter looked up from her complicated glowing machines. "Oh, hey, Sir. Just finishing up some lab results for the soil samples we took on PY1- 486. It's really fascinating; the pH is definitely way low for the types of plants we found on the planet, and I was—"  
  
"Aah—" He said. "Don't get started, Carter. Fact is, the general wants to hear all about the ZH on planet PY-something, and you get to say it to all of us real soon. So just make me bored once, ok? Wait for the meeting."  
  
Carter grinned. "Yes, sir. When is it?"  
  
Jack glanced at his watch, and said, "Uh, now." With that, he turned and sauntered down the hall. Sam looked down and started collecting her data. "Right, now. Okay." Her hands full, she turned, smiling, to follow her CO.

-------------------------------------------------------

In the Briefing Room, General Hammond waited with Teal'c, Major Sam Carter, and Colonel Jack O'Neill for the fourth member of the colonel's team, Daniel Jackson. Teal'c was, as per usual, impassive. Jack saw that Sam was looking the other way, and surreptitiously took one of her vialled samples of dirt and started to fiddle with it. Sam looked back at the rest of the group, including her superior, and said, "Sir!" She grabbed the vial out of O'Neill's hands and put it back with the rest.  
  
"Aah, it was boring anyway," said Jack. Turning to the general, he said, "Sir, permission to haul Daniel's ass up here?"  
  
"Uh, no need," said a voice from the doorway. Everyone present turned to look towards it, and saw Daniel Jackson. His left hand was full of piled and scrolled papers, and in his right he had a coffee cup, half empty. "Sorry I'm late... I had a translation that could be really important that I just wanted to finish up."  
  
"Very well, Dr. Jackson. Take your seat." The archaeologist did, and the general turned towards Sam. "Major Carter, what is your assessment of PY1-486?"  
  
"She finds it fascinating, sir," said Jack. "This is because the ZB on the planet is extra low, which means the birds sing in a higher key."  
  
"Uh, not exactly, sir," said Carter. "The soil has a very low pH, and yet the plants are a lot like the ones on Earth that require a high pH. They also don't seem to get nearly enough water that they could thrive, but they do. Now, if this means they are healthier than they should be, we should definitely take some more samples to analyze. It could mean a lot for medical procedures here."  
  
Daniel cut in. "Uh, the translation for one of the panels in the temple-thing I found..." Here he stopped, riffling through his papers. When he found the one he was apparently looking for, he pulled it out and said, "Aha! See, this panel here—" he pointed to one square in a diagram with tiny markings on it—"This panel says something about 'health immortal for those who deserve it.'"  
  
"For those who deserve it?" Sam asked. "What does that mean?"  
  
"Um, I don't know, I'm just the translator. But I think we should go back to the planet and check out that temple again. It looks—African, and the language is definitely a derivative of Bantu. Not to mention Sam's, uh, soil thing. In fact, I think it would be great to stay there for a week or so."  
  
"Yeah, I mean there's so much there, Sirs," said Sam. "We'd need to set up some lab stuff, though."  
  
"I am in agreement with Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. The planet looked most interesting," said Teal'c.  
  
"Yeah, Sir," said Jack, "Please can we go? There are so many trees, and they look perfect for climbing..."  
  
"Colonel," the general signed, "You—"  
  
"Sorry, Sir," Jack said, an unrepentant grin on his face.  
  
"Very well. In two days' time, you and SG-4 will set up camp on PY1- 486. Dismissed," said General Hammond.

-------------------------------------------

"Alright," Jack said, as he'd said hundreds of times before. "SG-1, SG-4, move out!"  
  
Everyone but Jack trooped through the gate, and then Jack turned, saluted the general ironically, and headed through the gate himself.  
  
As the wormhole disengaged, Jack said, "So!"  
  
"So?" asked the leader of SG-4, Major Garham. "What do you want us to do, sir?"  
  
"Carter?" asked Jack. "What do you want me to want them to do? You and Daniel are the ones who wanted this."  
  
"Uh, well, we're going to be here for a week, sir. We don't need to start right away."  
  
"Okay, then. Major, if you could find a place to set up camp?"  
  
"Sir." Two voices answered, Carter's and Major Garham's. They looked confusedly at each other. "Uh, sir?" This was Carter.  
  
"'Scuse me. Major Garham, you find a place to set up camp. Carter, you can start... playing in the dirt if you want."  
  
Two 'sir''s were given, and Major Garham gathered his team up to look for a place to set up while Carter headed off towards the temple, where Daniel was already headed.  
  
"O'Neill." This was Teal'c.  
  
"Yeah, Teal'c?"  
  
"Daniel informed me that he was going to the ruins which he is fascinated with."  
  
"Uh, thanks, Teal'c. Why don't we... join them?"  
  
"Indeed." Teal'c, too, started walking towards the temple, and, after informing Garham where they were going by radio, Jack followed.  
  
When Jack got to the temple, Carter had already started collecting and bottling soil. Daniel was kneeling on the ground inside the temple, peering at a panel in the corner of one of the walls and writing in his notebook. Teal'c was standing guard with his staff weapon.  
  
"Daniel," the team leader said, "Found anything yet? Carter?"  
  
"Sir, we've only been at it for a minute," said Carter, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Jack. "Don't suppose you've had a quick revelation, Daniel...?"  
  
"Um, actually, this panel is really interesting," Daniel replied. "It says, uh... 'Deep ...slumber is the source of all ...strength and power, and...knowledge is gained with...' Uh, can't translate that... and then this line at the bottom says, 'This is the answer to life.' Wonder what that means..." He said the last almost to himself.  
  
"Cool," said Jack. "Uh, Teal'c, stay here, and I'm gonna find Major Garham...see if he's found anything yet." With that, the colonel left.

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Please RR!!!


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
Later that day, both teams sat in the newly-set-up lab. Carter was peering through a microscope at her 'dirt,' and Daniel was muttering to himself about translations. Jack was reading a book.  
  
Teal'c asked, "What are you reading, O'Neill?"  
  
Jack looked up, and showed Teal'c the cover. It said, "Bart Simpson's Guide to Life: A Wee Handbook for the Perplexed."  
  
"It's useful," said Jack. When Carter and Daniel looked over, they tried to hide their smiles. "What?" said Jack. "I like the Simpsons."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Carter. She continued looking through the microscope. After a minute, she said, "Daniel, come over here."  
  
Daniel looked up. "What is it?"  
  
"Look at that," she said, gesturing towards the microscope. She turned it towards him. Daniel adjusted his glasses, and then looked into the machine.  
  
As he did so, he said, "You know I know nothing whatsoever about how microscopic pieces of dirt should look, right?"  
  
"Yeah," said Sam, "But I think you'll see something here. Just want to make sure I'm not going crazy."  
  
"Okay. Well, the only interesting thing I see is that it's got...uh, purple stuff in it." He looked up. "Is that normal?"  
  
Sam smiled. "No. Okay, now look at this one." She replaced the dirty slide with a blank one, and put a few drops of a liquid onto it, yawning as she did so. "God, I'm so tired."  
  
Daniel looked at her. "You okay?"  
  
Sam was staring into space. Daniel poked her, and said, "Sam!"  
  
Sam started. "What?"  
  
Daniel said, "I asked if you were okay."  
  
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." She gestured towards the microscope again.  
Daniel looked in again, and said, "Purple again.."  
  
Sam asked, "Why?"  
  
Daniel looked up. "What?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why what?"  
  
"Why'd you ask if I was okay?"  
  
"Uh, 'cause you said you were tired..."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I was in the lab late last night looking at the soil samples...that purple stuff... back at the base. I lost track of time. It's nothing, really."  
  
"Okay...so what's this stuff?"  
  
"Um, that's from the stream we found behind the temple."  
  
"So what's the significance of the purple stuff?"  
  
"I don't know; I'll have to run some more tests on it to see what it is, exactly. But my instruments are picking up naquadah in the soil, and I think it might be a naquadah-something compound. Probably a transition metal, considering the color. If I can find out what it is, and what the combination does..."  
  
"So that's what's making the plants so healthy?"  
  
"I don't know, but it's the only unusual element in the soil." She yawned again.  
  
Daniel frowned. "You sure you're okay?"  
  
"Yeah, fine." She grinned. "Stop worrying, Daniel."  
  
"Okay." Daniel went back to his translations, now glancing at Sam every now and then. -------------------------------------------  
  
A few hours later, Daniel looked up from his translations. "Hey, we going to have dinner?"  
  
Jack reached down into a box next to which he was sitting, and took some stuff out of it. "Your turn, Danny-boy," he said, and threw it to Daniel. It was cold cuts and bread.  
  
"Gee, thanks," said Daniel. He got up and started making sandwiches.  
  
Sam got up too. "I'll help you, Daniel."  
  
"So, Carter," said Jack. "You really need a week of this? Just looking at dirt for a whole week?"  
  
"Sir," she said, cutting a sandwich in half, "there's more than just looking at dirt. Ideally, we should be able to figure out why the plants—"  
  
"Carter," O'Neill cut in, "I don't care about the science stuff. Really. And if I did, I couldn't understand it anyway."  
  
Carter smiled. "Yes, sir." 

-------------------------------------

In the middle of their 'dinner,' Sam got up stiffly, her sandwich only half finished. SG-4 had decided to eat outside, but all of SG-1 were inside.  
  
"Carter?" asked Jack. "You all right?"  
  
"Yes, sir," she replied. "I'm just...exhausted. I'm gonna fall asleep whether I... want to or not, so I might as well do it on a sleeping...bag..." she yawned, and swayed.  
  
"Sam..." Daniel leaped up to catch her as she pitched forward.  
  
"Daniel, what is wrong with Major Carter?" Teal'c asked, standing.  
  
Daniel lowered Sam carefully to the ground. "I don't know," he said, checking her pulse. "She said she was tired a couple hours ago. Pulse is regular," he said. "We should get her back to Janet or something, Jack."  
  
"Yeah," said Jack. "You guys start carrying her to the gate, and I'll tell Garham and his team."  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
When they got back to the base, Sam still hadn't regained consciousness. As the wormhole disengaged, Dr. Janet Frasier rushed up to them. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
"No idea," said Jack. "One minute she was eating her sandwich, the next she was...asleep, or whatever she...is now."  
  
"She said she was tired," Daniel interjected. "I asked her about it, but she said she'd just stayed up late last night..."  
  
While they were talking, Janet had been checking Sam out. "Well, I'll need to do more tests, but it looks like she's just...asleep. She's definitely not in a coma. And her vitals are all normal, she doesn't have a temperature..."  
  
"So..." Jack said.  
  
"So, I can't find anything wrong with her."  
  
"Other than the fact that she's unconscious," said Daniel.  
  
"Yes," said Janet.  
  
"_'Deep slumber...,_'" said Daniel. The three conscious members of SG-1 looked at each other. Daniel said, "We've got to go back. I need to translate the stuff in that temple."


	3. Chapter 3

Jack turned towards the General, who had just entered the gate room. "Sir, permission to return to PY1-486?"  
  
"Permission granted, but only to get SG-4 back. I want everyone to be out of there within an hour. You can go back for a more permanent stay when we have a firm handle on the situation, Colonel."  
  
Jack gave his 'I really don't want to obey you, but you've given me an order, dammit' sigh, and said "When can we leave, General?"  
  
General Hammond was already leaving. On his way out, he said "Now," before heading up to the control room to give the orders to redial.  
  
"C'mon, kids, let's go," said Jack to his slightly diminished team, as they headed back through the gate.  
  
----------------------------  
  
On the other side of the gate, Jack said, "Okay, Daniel, go to that temple place, and get pictures of as many of those wall things as you can. Meet us back at the gate in an hour. Teal'c, you guard him." He jogged to the lab and told SG-4 what was going on, and said, "We need to get as much of this stuff outta here as possible, especially the sciency stuff."  
  
"Sir," said Major Garham, "What's wrong with Major Carter? Is she okay?"  
  
"She's, uh...asleep," said Jack. "They don't know what's wrong with her yet, but Hammond's ordered us out until we know more about the situation. We have an hour to get as much stuff as we can carry through. I want Major Carter's supplies—especially her sample things—and Dr. Jackson's...uh...paraphernalia and stuff."  
  
"Sir," the Major said, as he and his team started working, Jack toting with the rest of them.  
  
---------------------------------- An hour later...  
  
As soon as SG-1 got back through the stargate, they headed towards the infirmary, Daniel carrying papers, Jack juggling a few dozen vials, and Teal'c picking up what either of them dropped.  
  
When they entered the infirmary, Jack scanned the room for Janet, quickly found her, and dumped the vials into her arms. "From the planet," he said.  
  
Janet looked confusedly up at him, then realized what he meant, and said, "Uh, thank you."  
  
"So how is she?" asked Daniel, trying (in vain) to shuffle his papers into some form of order.  
  
"Absolutely no difference whatsoever," Janet sighed. "All we've managed to do is confirm my initial diagnosis."  
  
"You what?" asked Jack.  
  
"We confirmed that she's asleep," said Janet. "We can't wake her up for more than a few seconds, and she's hardly what could be considered awake when we do. Brain activity and REM are normal for somebody who's asleep, but even if she were horrendously sleep deprived, she could still stay awake for a few minutes at a time. I took some blood half an hour ago, but the results haven't come back yet. She's not in a coma, but she may as well be."  
  
"Um, what does that mean?" said Jack. "That last thing, I mean."  
  
Daniel sighed. "It means she won't wake up, Jack."  
  
"Oh," said Jack. "Well. That's...depressing."  
  
Daniel was looking towards the ground. He looked up at Janet for a second, then said, "You'll tell us if anything changes?"  
  
Janet smiled at him. "Of course," she said. Daniel gave a not-smile, nodded, and turned, carrying his papers towards his office.  
  
Jack stayed for another minute, gazing at Janet, trying to think of something to say. "Ah," he said, finally, "Good luck." Janet nodded and murmured a 'thanks.' Jack walked out of the infirmary, Teal'c directly behind him.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
After that, Janet was constantly chasing Jack out of her infirmary. It wasn't fair, Jack thought. Daniel had something useful to do, and Teal'c could accept that there was nothing he could do. But all Jack could do was bug Janet.  
  
Two hours after their return with SG-4, all conscious members of SG-1 went to the briefing room for the usual meeting. Janet was there as well, today, due to Sam's collapse.  
  
It was quick, because nobody really knew what to say beyond what had been said. All the other panels Daniel had translated so far only described the history of PY1-486, and none of it had to do with purple dirt or people suddenly collapsing into long bouts of slumber. Janet had determined that yes, the purple stuff was in Sam's blood, but she had no idea what, exactly, it was doing to her, or what she could do to reverse the effects. Jack and Teal'c related their own versions of what had happened, but other than that, Jack felt utterly useless. It's not like this is helping, he thought. All this is doing is confirming how much we don't know. After the meeting, Jack went back to yo-yoing, interrupted by his thrice-hourly checks on Sam, all of which involved Janet saying patiently, "No changes, Colonel," and then chasing him out with threats of big pointy things. Finally, at 2300, she ordered him to get some sleep. "What if it's contagious?" she asked.  
  
Jack, of course, replied that if all it did was make one sleep, it was a bit ludicrous to go to sleep to prevent it, but that didn't dissuade Janet, who pushed him out of her office, and said, "Now don't come back for at least eight hours!"  
  
He was convinced he wouldn't sleep, but after staring at the ceiling for what seemed like an hour, he eventually did. 


	4. Chapter 4

Okay. Um, thanks, everyone, for the reviews...People actually like my story! Joy!

Uh, yeah, forgot to put the 'disclaimer' in yesterday, so it's stuck in the 4th chapter for some reason: I sure wish I owned them, but I don't.

Also, Teal'c has decided he doesn't want me to write him this time, so just ignore his abscence, k? Thanks!!!

* * *

Janet got up at 0700, having gotten only six hours of sleep, but unable to sleep any more. After dressing, she headed over to the infirmary, and found Colonel O'Neill at the foot of Sam's bed.  
  
"No change, doctor," he said with a wry smile.  
  
Janet ignored his attempt at humor. "I told you eight hours of sleep," she said sternly, hands on hips.  
  
"Yeah, couldn't," said Jack. "Besides, I see you haven't gotten the required eight hours either. Unless you were right behind me on the way out last night," he said slyly.  
  
"And I see you finally understand your addition," said a slightly congested voice from behind Janet. She turned, to see Daniel.  
  
"I'll bet _you_ didn't get the proper sleep dosage either, Daniel," said Jack leeringly. "For your information, I've been excellent at addition since the tender age of twelve."  
  
Daniel ignored Jack, and said, "How's Sam?"  
  
"Well, according to Dr. O'Neill here, she's the same. How he figured that out, however..."  
  
"I asked the nurse," Jack said, slightly annoyed.  
  
Janet walked over to Sam and gave her unconscious form a cursory check-up. "Yes, that would explain why you were correct." She turned to Daniel. "Now, what's wrong with you?"  
  
Daniel looked up at her, startled. "Me?"  
  
"Yeah, you sound a little hoarse," she said.  
  
"Oh, that. I was looking at the dirt a few minutes ago," he said. "You know how organic stuff hates me."  
  
As Janet moved to a closet, presumably to get something with which to dose Daniel, Jack said, "Why were you looking at it?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "I wasn't getting anywhere with the translations."  
  
Janet approached with a needle. "So you decided to give yourself an allergic reaction?"  
  
Daniel sniffed, and started rolling up his sleeve: he knew the drill for allergy shots. "Dirt usually doesn't affect me, Janet."  
  
She swabbed his arm, inserted the needle, pushed. "Well, let me know if it gets worse," she sighed. Her usual instructions.  
  
"Yeah," said Daniel. "And let us know if Sam gets worse."  
  
"Or better," said Jack. "Not that you'll need to find me," he added, occupying an empty chair.  
  
"Actually," said Daniel, "she will." He pulled Jack up out of the chair, who looked at Daniel questioningly. "I know from experience how much more can get done when you're not around, Jack." He started pulling Jack out of the infirmary.  
  
"So..." Jack said.  
  
"So you're coming with me." As he pulled his friend and team leader away from the infirmary, he looked back, to see Janet mouthing '_thank you!_'  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
In Daniel's office, Jack was juggling balls of paper—with little success—while Daniel muttered in several different languages, looking for something new from the temple, something he hadn't seen before.  
  
"Alas!" said Jack, behind him. "Poor Yorick; I knew him well." Daniel turned, and saw Jack, striking a dramatic pose, Daniel's Complete Works of Shakespeare in one hand.  
  
"Jack!" Daniel grabbed the book.  
  
"That got your attention," said Jack. "Let's go to lunch; it's 1500 already."  
  
Daniel sighed. "Jack, I'm still not really good at military time—"  
  
"3:00," said Jack. "C'mon, I'm hungry.  
  
"Well, I'm not," said Daniel. "You go ahead."  
  
"Sure? There's a lot of jello—"  
  
"_Yes_, Jack, I'm sure. Go...pig out on jello."  
  
Jack dropped the clown act for a minute. "You okay, Daniel?"  
  
Daniel sighed. "I'm not hungry, Jack."  
  
Jack looked at his friend, diligently working on translation, then shrugged and left the room.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
On the way back from the commissary, Jack stopped by the infirmary.  
  
"I thought Daniel was going to keep you out of my way today," said Janet, smiling.  
  
"He's been doing it all day. I figure he deserves a break," said Jack. "So how's Sam?"  
  
"Still the same," said Janet, the smile sliding off her face. "I don't know what's wrong with her!"  
  
Jack said, "Can I see her?"  
  
"Sure," said the doctor, shrugging helplessly. She walked towards the far end of the ward, gesturing him to follow.  
  
Sam was lying just as she had that morning—as though asleep.  
  
Janet sighed. "So," she said, clearly trying to make conversation, "were you driving Daniel crazy all day?"  
  
"_Mwa_?" he said. "Of course not; I was amusing him."  
  
"Mmm," said Janet, as though she didn't believe him.  
  
"'Mmm,'" Jack repeated.  
  
They looked at each other, out of things to say. Then Jack said, "Maybe you should come visit Daniel."  
  
Janet frowned. "Why?"  
  
"Well, you're so good at threats, you know. Make him eat something."  
  
The frown deepened. "Why isn't he eating?"  
  
Jack shrugged.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
"Gah!" Daniel dropped his pencil and ran his hand over his eyes. He'd translated dozens and dozens of panels, but he hadn't found anything that could help Sam or shed any light on the situation. To make things worse, Janet's antihistamines weren't working anymore, and his head was throbbing.  
  
Someone knocked on the door, and he said hoarsely, "Come in."  
  
The door opened to reveal Janet and Jack. "Daniel?" Janet asked.  
  
Daniel smiled wanly. "Hey," he said. "Is Sam all right?"  
  
"Still no change," said Janet. "How are you?"  
  
Daniel contemplated lying, but knew Janet would catch it, and that would make anything she did to him a lot worse. "Oh, your antihistamines wore off," he said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "So I've got a headache... But it's not that bad," he said, trying to put a balance between truth and lie.  
  
"Right," said Janet vaguely, as she walked over to him. She took his wrist, and put her free hand on his forehead. "Pulse is a little fast, and you've got a slight fever," she said. "When did you last eat?"  
  
Daniel looked at Jack accusingly. "You put her up to this, didn't you?"  
  
Jack gave his friend look for look, and said, all traces of humor gone for once, "I was worried about you. You have no idea how pale you look, do you?"  
  
Daniel sighed, and closed his eyes. "No, now that you mention it. None whatsoever." Then he told Janet, "Last night. I wasn't hungry at all today."  
  
"All right." Janet had taken her hand off his forehead, but had kept holding onto his wrist. Now, she used her grip to pull him up. "Can you walk okay?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"Yes, I can walk," he said, annoyed. "Look, if we're going to the infirmary, at least let me bring my stuff." He started gathering up his papers.  
  
"You said it wasn't there," said Jack.  
  
"I _said_ I couldn't _find_ it," Daniel said. "It _has_ to be there." Finished, he stepped away from the table, then hurriedly put a steadying arm out as he swayed.  
  
"Daniel?" said Janet.  
  
"I'm fine," he said, his eyes closed.  
  
"Sure y'are," said Jack, swinging his arm around Daniel's shoulders. With his and Janet's help, Daniel walked to the infirmary.


	5. Chapter 5

Aah! It's short! And it's a cliffhanger! I feel so bad!  
Well, actually I don't, because I'm pretty close to done w/ the next chapter...and besides, it was such a great place to end the chapter. Great place. Yes. Now that everyone knows of my brilliance, I will shut up.

* * *

Jack confiscated Daniel's glasses, and Janet helped him into one of the infirmary beds, and Daniel sighed, laying back on the pillows. Much as he hated getting sick at such a bad time, it felt very good to just lay back into the clean white bed.  
  
He let his mind wander, knowing that if Janet was going to let him continue translating here, it wouldn't be for a while: she was fond of putting people through dozens of tests upon entering her infirmary. Reminded of this, he said, "Janet."  
  
She was at his side almost immediately. "Daniel. What's wrong?"  
  
"No brain x-rays today, okay? They're really annoying." Janet smiled, and Daniel heard Jack say from farther down the side of the bed, "That's our Daniel."  
  
"What? I mean it," he said. "I hate those things."  
  
"'Brain x-rays.' Your vocabulary is shrinking, Danny-boy." Jack had walked over to the other side of the bed, so Janet occupied the right side and Jack the left. Now that he was closer, Daniel could see him more clearly.  
  
"Shut up and give me my glasses back," Daniel said, glaring at Jack. "I really don't want to dig for medical terms right now—"  
  
He stopped as a thermometer was shoved under his tongue and held there. "Mph," he mumbled, and held his hand out to Jack. The colonel, seeing he had a tactical advantage, decided not to give up the glasses just yet.  
  
The thermometer beeped, and Janet removed it from his mouth. "101.2," she said. "I think it's safe to say that this isn't just allergies, Daniel."  
  
"Right," said Daniel. He thought for a minute, then said, "If you make Jack give my glasses back, I'll be good and do whatever you want, okay?"  
  
Jack promptly handed the glasses back, then said, "Now remember to keep your promise." Daniel glared at him, now with the added power of his glasses, as Janet felt his pulse and lymph nodes. Jack, seeing that Daniel was cooperating, headed over to Carter, who was still asleep.  
  
"C'mon, Carter, wake up," said Jack. "You're missing all the excitement."  
  
Sam lay there.  
  
"Carter! I am ordering you to wake up!" said Jack.  
  
"Yessir," she sighed.  
  
Jack frowned. "Carter?"  
  
Sam did nothing.  
  
Jack walked back to Janet, and said, pointing, "Is she supposed to do that?"  
  
Janet, having finished with Daniel, told him, "Rest," and then turned to Jack. "Do what?" she asked.  
  
"Carter," Jack said. "She...talked to me."  
  
Janet frowned. "And...did it make sense?"  
  
Jack looked towards his second-in-command. "Um, sort of."  
  
Janet waited for him to explain.  
  
"I ordered her to wake up."  
  
"And..."  
  
"And she said, 'yes sir.'" He paused. Then he explained, "But she didn't wake up."  
  
Janet walked over to Sam, and checked the equipment to which she was hooked up. "Sir," she said, sighing, "she's still asleep. She probably heard you and thought it was part of a dream she was having."  
  
Jack walked over, too, looked at Sam, and frowned. "Oh," he said.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
"Unscheduled off-world activation," said a voice from the speakers.  
  
Daniel woke up, flinching at the volume. They hadn't let him have his work back, so he'd decided to take a nap—and besides, Janet had ordered him to rest. He sat up, grunting as he did so, and saw a blurred form, next to Sam's bed, turn at the noise. Daniel groped for his glasses, found them, and shoved them onto his nose, and could clearly see Janet walking towards him.  
  
"Hey," she said, when she got to him. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Daniel checked himself out internally, and then said, "Worse, actually."  
  
Janet frowned. "Worse how?"  
  
Daniel shrugged helplessly. "Just...worse in general, I guess. Sort of shivery...and tired. And my head hurts more."  
  
Janet nodded. "I'll—"  
  
"Medical team to the control room!" cried the speakers with General Hammond's voice.  
  
Janet sighed. "Here," she said, handing him a thermometer, "Take your temperature. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, she speed-walked out of the room.  
  
"Okay," Daniel murmured to her retreating back, and looked down at the thermometer.  
  
He promptly looked up again when he heard the sound of rustling sheets. The only other person in the room was Sam, who was supposedly still comatose. He looked over to her, and saw her sitting up.  
  
"Daniel?" she said.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry bout that....took longer to finish than I thought. Hope you enjoy it more than I'm enjoying trying to find ways to write it...

* * *

"Sam?" Daniel replied. "You're awake?"  
  
"What are we doing here?" asked Sam. "Where's Janet?"  
  
"Um," said Daniel, "she's, uh, doing something at the gate. They needed a medical team, and the staff in the infirmary is pretty low today."  
  
"Okay," said Sam, getting up. "So why are we here?"  
  
"Um," said Daniel again, "are you...sure you should be getting up?"  
  
"Daniel," said Sam, "Just tell me why we're here."  
  
"Well, uh, you fainted yesterday."  
  
"Right," she said, remembering. Then: "Yesterday?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," said Daniel. "Almost exactly a day ago, actually. We brought you back through the gate."  
  
"Oh," said Sam. "So what's wrong with you?"  
  
"Oh, I got sick," he said, and grimaced.  
  
Sam frowned. "How?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "They don't know. Actually, everyone was a lot more worried about you," he said. "You were kind of comatose for a while."  
  
There was a commotion near the door, and both SG-1 members looked towards it. Sam was halfway between the two beds, and Daniel was still sitting on his temporary bed, knowing if he got up he'd probably fall. He hurriedly put the thermometer in his mouth, remembering that he was supposed to be taking his temperature.  
  
A nurse entered, and readied the bed on the other side of Daniel. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
She looked over at him. "SG-8," she said. "One of the men had an allergic reaction to a bug bite."  
  
"Ow," said Sam. The nurse looked up at her, shocked, then ran out of the room, crying, "Dr. Frasier!"  
  
"What am I, a ghost?" asked Sam, annoyed.  
  
Janet ran into the room. "Sam, thank god!" she said. "Here, sit down."  
  
"Why?" asked Sam. "I'm fine."  
  
"Indulge me," said Janet. "You've been unconscious for 24 hours. We worry, you know."  
  
Sam sighed, smiling, and sat down in the chair next to Daniel's bed. Daniel took the thermometer out of his mouth. "How's SG-8?" Sam asked.  
  
Janet was procuring yet another miracle cure from her 'shot closet.' "Oh, Lieutenant Peters was stung by something. He'll be a bit uncomfortable for a while, but he's certainly not in any danger." Janet laughed, and turned around. "I can't believe you're awake, Sam."  
  
"Why is everyone finding this so amazing?" Sam asked, annoyed.  
  
Daniel was starting to feel dizzy, but he said quietly, "Nobody knew what was wrong with you."  
  
Something in his voice alerted Janet to his state, and she looked at him and said quickly, "Lay down, Daniel." Sam looked at him, and stood to help him do so. "Thanks," he said, closing his eyes. He felt Sam taking his glasses off again.  
  
Janet handed the shot to a nurse, saying, "For Lieutenant Peters," and then went to Daniel. She took the thermometer from his limp hand, and put it in his mouth until it beeped. "103.5," she said. "Fever's getting higher." She went to the medicine closet and removed a bottle of liquid Tylenol.  
  
"Isn't that stuff for kids?" Daniel asked weakly.  
  
"I find that when people are lying down, it's easier to give them something liquid than make them take a pill," said Janet. "However, if you want a pill..."  
  
"No," said Daniel, and coughed. "Liquid's fine."  
  
"Good," replied the doctor. She came over with a spoon, and dosed him. He licked some stray medicine off his lips, then turned over to try to sleep.  
  
As he did, Janet gestured Sam to sit on the bed she'd occupied until recently. She did so, and Janet began to check her out again. "What's wrong with him? Is he going to be okay?"  
  
Janet shook her head. "I have no idea, Sam. I wish I did. Well, anyway," she said, having finished all she could without blood or brain- wave tests, "You seem fine. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Uh, great," said Sam. "Really...really great, actually."  
  
Janet raised her eyebrows, but before she could respond, Jack said from the doorway, "Sam!"  
  
Sam looked up. "Hey," she said.  
  
Jack ran over, pushed Janet carefully to the side, and enveloped Sam in a huge bear hug. "Hey!" he said, "You're awake!"  
  
"Oomph," said Sam, as she was crushed by his firm grip. Jack heard, and let go, concerned. "Thanks," she said. "Much as I appreciate it, sir, that was a pretty strong hug."  
  
Jack had turned to Janet, though. "Why didn't you tell me she was awake?" he demanded.  
  
"That she was awake? Colonel, it's been a little busy down here, you know. It's only been about ten minutes, anyway."  
  
"Oh," said Jack. "Well, so how are you?" he asked, turning to Sam again. "We were worried about you."  
  
"I'm fine," she said. "Look, is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?"  
  
"You fainted," Jack began.  
  
"No, I know that part," she said impatiently. "Colonel, what's wrong with Daniel?"  
  
Jack turned to the doctor. "Janet? What's wrong with Daniel?"  
  
Janet sighed, and said, "I don't know. His blood samples have the—purple...material in them, or whatever they are. But his reaction is completely different from Sam's."  
  
"Purple...you mean the stuff that was in the soil on PY1-486?"  
  
Janet nodded. "I should really check your blood again, Sam. We need to understand how this...disease...works."  
  
Sam nodded too. "You should get the colonel's blood too, Janet." Jack spluttered, and Sam grinned guiltily. "Sorry, sir, but if it's a new disease it's important to know about all the stages of it.  
  
"Including incubation," said Janet grimly. "I should get Teal'c's and SG-4's as well."  
  
"Misery loves company," Jack grumbled.  
  
"Hey, where is Teal'c? Janet asked. "I haven't seen him all day."  
  
"Oh, he's having a fun-filled day of Star Wars and kelno'reem," said Jack.  
  
"Ah," said Janet. She turned to Sam. "Well, let's get those samples."


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel woke again, and tried to look around. He couldn't, however, because Sam, Teal'c and Jack were surrounding the bed and peering down at him. "Talk about claustrophobia," he mumbled. The rest of SG-1 realized he was awake, and moved back. "Thanks," he said.  
  
"Sure," Sam said. She smiled reassuringly, but there was worry in her eyes.  
  
"Hey," he told her, "I'm not dead yet."  
  
She looked confusedly at him. "Stop worrying," he said hoarsely. Sam smiled distractedly, then turned as she heard the unmistakable clicks of Janet's heels" everyone besides her at the SGC wore combat boots.  
  
"Well," Daniel heard Janet say, "Teal'c and SG-8 are clean." She approached Daniel, and said, "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm gonna get really tired of that question," Daniel grumbled.  
  
"Now, now, Daniel," scolded Jack, "you promised you'd cooperate with the good doctor." Teal'c looked at him and raised one eyebrow.  
  
Daniel sighed, but said, "The same as before. What about Jack's blood sample?"  
  
"Well, uh..." Janet looked at Jack. "Your blood sample had the foreign material in it."  
  
Jack groaned. "So now what?"  
  
"Well, sir, I'm going to have to insist that you stay here tonight."  
  
"Aw, doc—"  
  
"Now, now, Jack," said Daniel hoarsely. Sam and Janet grinned as Jack scowled.  
  
"Fine," he said grumpily. "Guess you're getting a roommate, Danny."  
  
Sam said, sighing, "You're going to make me stay here too, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes," Janet admitted.  
  
"Oh, well," Sam said. "At least I'll get some work done with that dirt."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Daniel woke suddenly, and sat up, gasping.  
  
He was back on PY1-486, in the temple he'd found. "What...?" he murmured. He got up, cautiously; then, when he didn't feel dizzy or faint, walked to the door.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" He saw something from out of the corner of his eye, and turned.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Daniel frowned, and looked towards where the Stargate was.  
  
Shao're was there.  
  
"Okay, I'm dreaming," he said. "Wake up, Daniel."  
  
Shao're started to walk over.  
  
"You're dead!" he called. "God, whoever you are, don't you dare torture me with her. I know she's dead. We buried her!"  
  
She was in front of him now. "My Dan-yel," she said softly.  
  
"You're dead," he said, equally as quiet.  
  
"No," she said, and kissed him.  
  
It was real.  
  
"Shao're," he said, "What...what's going on? Why am I...why are we here?"  
  
"You left me," she said sorrowfully.  
  
"I...I what?"  
  
"You left me," she repeated. "When I was stolen, you came for me, but you did not succeed. You joined the Tau'ri to find me, but instead of trying to find me you tried to learn about new cultures. Your wife was out there, and you enjoyed learning about the Mongols and Greeks! You betrayed me!"  
  
"Shao're—"  
  
"No," she said. "This time you will listen to me! When you found me, you took my son and left me to be retaken by Apophis. Then you found me again, and you allowed your friend to shoot me down with his staff weapon. I was not dead, Dan-yel! You buried me alive. My rescuers truly love me."  
  
"Shao're!"  
  
"No! I am one of them now, and we hate you."  
  
"Shao're—"  
  
"You will listen! We hate you, as we hate all men." She raised her arms, and called out, "Hei-ya!"  
  
Women came past him from left and right, and he turned. The temple was filled with women, all of whom were looking at him with hateful eyes. He turned, and tried one last time. "Shao're, I love you."  
  
"But I no longer love you," she hissed, and slapped him. "I have learned better."  
  
Daniel stared at Shao're, appalled.  
  
"Hai," she said, and the woman walked into the forest. Shao're followed them, giving him one last hateful glance before she vanished into the dark trees.  
  
Daniel gazed at the forest for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes. He sat down.  
  
"Daniel!"  
  
He turned his head, and saw Sam behind him.  
  
"Come on, let's go."  
  
Daniel got up slowly.  
  
"Hurry up!" Sam called. "We don't have all day, you know."  
  
"I saw Shao're," he said.  
  
Sam sighed, annoyed. "Shao're's dead, Daniel."  
  
"I—I know that. But she said..."  
  
"She's dead, Daniel," Sam repeated. "Dead people can't say anything!"  
  
Daniel shook his head. "What's going on, anyway?" He asked. "I was sick—"  
  
Sam frowned. "Yeah, like a month ago," she said. "Daniel, come on."  
  
He stared at her for a minute, then shook her head and followed her to the stargate.  
  
On their way to the DHD, Sam sighed loudly and said, "We better get you to Janet; you're acting weird again."  
  
Daniel blinked at her. "What?"  
  
Sam glared at him. "I said—"  
  
"No," he interrupted. "Something's wrong."  
  
"Yeah," she said, as they got to the DHD. "With you." She dialed Earth, and then ran up to the stargate. "Come on," she called, and walked through it.  
  
"What's going on?" he murmured, as he walked up to the gate. He gazed at the event horizon, then walked through it.  
  
"...acting weird again," he heard Sam say as he came through the gate. "I suppose I should get him to Janet again." She laughed. "Poor woman."  
  
"Hey," he said. "What's going on?" Sam had been talking to a female guard in the gateroom.  
  
Sam sighed patiently. "Come on, Daniel," she said, as though talking to a little kid. "It's time to go to Janet now." Throwing a wry look at the guard, she came over and threw her arm around his shoulder. Daniel, stunned, let her lead him out of the gate room.  
  
Janet met them on the way to the infirmary. "Hey, Daniel," she said, again as if talking to a kid. "How are you doing?"  
  
Daniel stared at her, and then wrenched himself away from Sam and turned to face them both. "What is going on?!" he asked desperately.  
  
Sam sighed audibly. "Daniel, nothing is going on. Nothing except you've come back from another mission, babbling again. Why don't you just apply for a desk job? I mean, yes, you're good at translations, but you're awful at missions. I should've known you'd be weird. You look geeky, and you sure are a geek. And I think you lost it when Shao're died. It's not like you hadn't lost her already! God, you're so weak!" She stormed away. Daniel stared at her retreating back.  
  
Janet sighed softly. "Come on, Daniel," she said briskly. She started to walk to the infirmary again, but stopped when Daniel said softly, "Janet."  
  
Janet turned, and Daniel said, almost in tears, "What's going on? Why is she mad at me?"  
  
Janet looked at Daniel calmly. "Daniel, if you can't calm down, I'm going to have to sedate you again."  
  
"Again?" He laughed, slightly hysterical. "When was the last time you sedated me? Yesterday?"  
  
Janet frowned. "No, it was last week. Come on, Daniel. Let's get you to the infirmary."  
  
Daniel let her lead him away, half laughing, half crying. Had he gone crazy? He didn't know. Could an entire week—month—have vanished from his life? Or was it more? Daniel sat sobbing as Janet slid the needle into his arm, and cried himself to sleep.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
"Come on, wake up," Sam whispered again. "C'mon, Daniel, it's just a dream."  
  
Daniel was shivering and sobbing in his sleep. "Daniel," Sam said, "You need to wake up now. It's all right, it's just a dream..."  
  
"Sam?" Daniel hiccupped.  
  
"Daniel?" Sam asked. Thank god, I was really worried. I was about to wake Janet. How are you doing?"  
  
He thought, and realized that, unlike in—was it a dream?—he didn't know—he felt sick again. "I was dreaming?" he asked shakily.  
  
Sam frowned, worried. "Yeah," she said. "Are you okay?"  
  
Daniel laughed shakily. "I doubt it," he said.  
  
"Should I get Janet?"  
  
Daniel looked at Sam sharply. She'll sedate me again, he thought. Then: No, that was a dream. It had to be.  
  
"Daniel?"  
  
Daniel shook his head, then winced at the pain. "Cold," he said, still shivering.  
  
"I'll get a blanket."  
  
Daniel nodded, and concentrated on breathing.  
  
"Here, Sam said, and put a blanket around his shoulders.  
  
"Thanks," he said.  
  
They sat in silence for a minute, then she said, "You wanna talk about it?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Is he asleep? Sam thought. She looked over, but Daniel's eyes were open.  
  
"Shao're," Daniel said finally. "She was on the planet, and she said I'd betrayed her. And she slapped me, and then you came—and you acted so weird. Like I was a little kid and you were a—an annoyed babysitter."  
  
"Daniel, Shao're loved you."  
  
Daniel nodded numbly.  
  
Sam sighed, knowing from experience that it wasn't that simple.  
  
"Sam."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
Sam checked her watch. "Uh, 2:30."  
  
"Oh," said Daniel. He cleared his throat. "Why are you awake?"  
  
Sam shrugged. "Not tired," she said.  
  
"Oh." Daniel yawned, and Sam smiled. "Daniel," she said, "you should go to sleep."  
  
"I can't," he said, a note of fear in his voice.  
  
Sam looked sympathetically at him. "Daniel, you have to sleep."  
  
He shook his head. "I don't ever want to have a dream like that again," he said stubbornly.  
  
Sam sighed. "You can't stay awake forever, Daniel."  
  
"I can try," he said softly. 


	8. Chapter 8

The day was mostly uneventful. Nobody fainted or got sick or injured, and there were no surprises, on-base or off-.  
  
Janet had Jack come to the infirmary several times to be checked on, but all she noticed was a distinct irritability towards her, which was, after all, normal for him. Daniel, however, was abnormally quiet, even for being sick. She asked him about it, but all he did was shrug and say, "It's nothing."  
  
Sam was in Janet's lab all day, looking at the blood, dirt, and water samples and drawing and calculating things on pads of paper. At 1300, Janet came in and told Sam she had to eat something or be thrown out.  
  
"Janet..." Sam moaned.  
  
Janet threw Sam a stern look. "Sam, I know you have to be hungry by now. I'm surprised you're not falling over with fatigue, myself, but I'm not going to argue about that one too. Just eat something, now!"  
  
Sam rolled her eyes, but complied.  
  
At the commissary, she saw her CO, and sat down across from him with a piece of cheese pizza. "Hey," she said.  
  
He looked up, startled. "Oh, hey, Carter," he said when he saw who it was. "What's up? Danny isn't..."  
  
"He's the same," she said.  
  
"Ah," he replied.  
  
The conversation, having been played out several times over the last day and a half, ran dry quickly. After about five minutes, however, Jack said. "I'm really worried about it for some reason."  
  
Sam looked up, swallowed, surprised, and put her pizza down. The colonel usually didn't talk about his feelings; it was, in fact, near the top of his list of dislikes. Damned if she wasn't going to listen when he actually opened up.  
  
"Why's he so quiet today? I mean, he may be feeling rotten, but...this is different. Like he's brooding or something..."  
  
Sam told him about the dream—or at least, as much as she knew. She felt slightly guilty for telling Jack about it, but if anybody could find a way into Daniel's head, it was Jack. Jack had known Daniel for longer than anybody else on base, and had helped him through more than one emotional problem.  
  
"Jesus," Jack said when Sam was through. "I hope he's okay."  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Daniel was holding onto consciousness as hard as he could. "I can't sleep," he said to himself. "I can't. Not unless I want to have that dream again. Or even one that's worse. I can't sleep..."  
  
Janet came over, a worried look in her eyes. "Daniel," she said, "you have to sleep sometime." She'd been trying to get him to sleep for hours, and he'd refused.  
  
As he did now. "I can't," he muttered. "If I sleep I'll—I'll..." he trailed off.  
  
"You'll what?" Janet asked gently. But Daniel shook his head urgently, wincing at the pain the motion gave him. "Daniel," Janet sighed, "If you won't go to sleep I'm going to have to sedate you."  
  
_ "Sedate you..."  
_  
_ "I'm going to have to sedate you. If you won't calm down I'm going to have to sedate you."_  
  
"No!" Daniel screeched.  
  
Several nurses looked over as Janet took a step back. After a minute, she said, "Daniel, are you okay?"  
  
"No," Daniel repeated, covering his face with his hands. "I just...I can't—please don't sedate me," he said desperately.  
  
"Alright, I won't," said Janet, confused and worried. "But what's wrong?"  
  
Daniel looked up at her blearily. "I can't," he said cryptically.  
  
Janet sighed. "Daniel..."  
  
Daniel shook his head. Janet sighed again. "Okay, Daniel," she said.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Soon after, Sam came back in, with Jack right behind her. They both stopped to say hello to Daniel, but he didn't say much. After trying to chat with him—and not getting very far—she gave up, patted him on the shoulder, shared a cryptic glance with her superior, and headed to the lab again. Jack, however, stayed.  
  
"So I hear you won't sleep," said Jack casually. Daniel looked questioningly up at him, and he said, "I have my ways."  
  
"Oh," Daniel whispered.  
  
"So..." Jack said, "Why not?"  
  
"I can't," Daniel said softly, looking at his hands.  
  
"Well, you looked bushed to me," said Jack. "If you just tried..."  
  
"No, it's not that I _can't_, it's just that I...I _can't_."  
  
Jack frowned slightly. "You know that makes no sense whatsoever, right?"  
  
Daniel smiled mirthlessly. "Yeah, I know," he said.  
  
Suddenly Jack sat down on the bed, and hugged his friend. "It's okay," Jack said to him. "I'm here."  
  
Daniel, surprised, took a minute to realize what Jack had done, but when he did he held on as hard as he could. "Oh, god, Jack," he said, his voice muffled.  
  
"It's okay," Jack repeated. When Daniel let go, Jack said, "So what was the dream about?"  
  
Daniel blinked. "How did you know I had a dream?" he asked.  
  
"Well, uh," said Jack, "You won't sleep. And it's obvious that you're tired, so it had to be something..."  
  
"Oh," said Daniel.  
  
"And besides, Sam told me."  
  
That got a chuckle out of Daniel. Jack smiled to see his friend hadn't lost all of his sense of humor. "So what was it about?"  
  
"Shao're..." Daniel murmured, gazing at the sheets covering him.  
  
"What about her?" Jack asked.  
  
"She was—she said she hated me—and then she slapped me. And—Jack, please don't make me..." Daniel looked at Jack with anguished eyes.  
  
"Remember it?" Jack asked.  
  
Daniel nodded silently.  
  
They were both quiet for a minute, then Jack said, "You dreamed she hated you...because you didn't find her?"  
  
Daniel looked up at him again, this time really shocked: he hadn't even told anybody about that. "How did you know?" he whispered.  
  
Jack shrugged. "Charlie and Sara," he said simply. "After I lost Charlie, I had dreams...nightmares where he came and yelled at me, told me how much he hated me. And then Sara'd come and tell me it was my fault."  
  
"Oh, god, Jack...I'm sorry..."  
  
Jack laughed softly. "That's just like you, Daniel. My dreams are long gone, and I know they're not true. You, however..." he sighed, and looked straight at his friend. "I know this doesn't help much, but you tried as hard as you could to find her, and she knew it. She loved you more than anybody ever could. I saw how she looked at you, Daniel. _She loved you._ Okay?"  
  
Daniel nodded numbly. "I know, but—"  
  
"No buts," said Jack. "Now..." he got up, and sat again, this time on the chair next to Daniel's bed. "You need to sleep."  
  
Daniel looked at Jack angrily. "Jack, I _can't_! I thought you understood—"  
  
"No, I do," said Jack, gazing kindly at his friend. "But you really, really need to sleep. Look, if you have a dream I'll wake you up, okay? I promise."  
  
Daniel was quiet for a minute, then said, "You promise?"  
  
"Yeah," said Jack. "Now go to sleep."  
  
"Okay," said Daniel softly, and closed his eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, I've gotten 2 people saying 'it's not shao're' to me so I'm gonna explain my reasoning. First, nobody ever spelled it in the movie or seasons 1-6 (those are all the ones I've watched). Second, in the movie they pronounced it 'shay-oh-ree' and in the show they pronounce it 'shah-ray'. So I'm kinda...combining them? Thirdly, if people can spell Teal'c (and that _was_ spelled in the show) T'ealc, I can spell Shao're (or whatever) how I want. If it really bothers you, just substitute or someting.

Also, sorry it took a whole week to get this part up...have finals and stuff. (Yuk!)

* * *

Sam was still analyzing the results of the tests she'd done when Janet came in for a last look at her lab before closing up.  
  
"Sam!" she cried when she saw her friend. "Why are you still in here?"  
  
Sam looked up from her papers in surprise. "Why?" she asked. "What time is it?"  
  
Janet sighed. "It's almost 10:00, Sam. You've been awake for more than twenty-four hours."  
  
Sam shrugged. "I'm not tired, Janet."  
  
Janet sighed, then looked mischievously behind her, into the infirmary. "Maybe I should sic Jack on you," she said. "He got Daniel to go to sleep, at least."  
  
Sam smiled slightly. "Janet, I'm not tired. I promise." Her friend put her hands on her hips, but before she could scold her friend, Jack looked in. "Hey," he said.  
  
Janet turned around to look at him. Behind her, Sam gave her commanding officer a small smile. "How are you?" asked Janet.  
  
Jack gave a wry grin. "Tired," he said. "Janet, I was wondering if I could stay by Daniel tonight. You know, just in case he gets another nightmare."  
  
Janet looked at the colonel. He was flushed, and a thin sheen of sweat was on his face. He looked exhausted and sick. "Colonel," she said, "Why don't you sleep in the bed next to Daniel's? I'll get it ready for you if you want."  
  
Jack smiled with relief, and murmured his assent, which showed Janet how tired he really was. The two left the lab.  
  
In a few minutes, Janet came back. Sam was back to looking at her notes, but she looked up when Janet entered. "You think he has it?" the major asked softly.  
  
"Well, we know he has it," said Janet. "But I'm guessing he's starting to feel whatever effects it will have on him, yes. Daniel is a good way to keep him in the infirmary for now."  
  
"Exploiting the enemy's weakness?"  
  
"Well, he's not exactly the enemy, but something like that."  
  
Sam smiled slightly. "I'd ask your nurses before saying he's not an enemy."  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Jack woke with a start and checked his watch—he never did anything without it. 01.00, it read. "God," he muttered.  
  
He'd woken from a dream. It was the dream that had haunted him for a while after his son's death, the one he'd told Daniel about earlier. His son saying it was his fault, and his wife agreeing. But then it had moved to his 2IC, Major Sam Carter. She was...he struggled to remember as the dream flitted away—he'd said something sarcastic. Nothing new. And she said something like, "Isn't that just like a man?" After giving his usual speech about how she was a major and he was a colonel, she said, "Hiding behind your rank, as usual, I see." It wasn't a frightening dream, but it was an unsettling one, to say the least.  
  
He looked over at Daniel. It seemed he was having nightmares, too, and Jack got up to wake him like he'd promised. He got dizzy when he put his feet to the floor, and stood by the infirmary bed for a minute. After waiting almost a minute for his head to clear, he decided it wasn't going to, and staggered over to Daniel's bed, nearly falling over on his way.  
  
"Daniel," he said when he got there, shaking the linguist. "Hey, Danny, wake up. C'mon, you gotta help me out here, wake up!"  
  
Daniel murmured something unintelligible. Then, he cracked his eyes open and said, "Jack?"  
  
"Yeah," said the older man, and patted Daniel's shoulder. "How ya feelin'?"  
  
"Um," said Daniel, sitting up and shrugging, "the same, I guess." He looked at Jack more closely, and said, "Jeez, Jack, you look pretty bad yourself."  
  
Jack shrugged and muttered, "I'm fine." Trying to change the subject, he said, "What were you dreaming about?"  
  
Daniel shrugged uncomfortably. "Shao're," he said. "Same as last night."  
  
Jack grimaced and patted Daniel's shoulder again.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Sam couldn't sleep. It wasn't that she was scared, like Daniel, she thought, she just wasn't tired. After tossing and turning all night and staying entirely lucid the entire time, she finally sat up and checked her watch. 03.00. She contemplated trying to sleep again, but didn't see the point. She'd head down to the infirmary to see how Daniel and the Colonel were doing.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
Once there, Sam walked over to where Jack and Daniel were sleeping. They both looked peaceful, if feverish. She put a hand on the Colonel's forehead. It was hot.  
  
Jack opened his eyes at the touch. "Sam?" he asked groggily, looking up at her. "'s up? What time 'sit?"  
  
She smiled down at him. "It's 03.15, Colonel," she said, taking her hand off his forehead. "Do you need anything? Water, aspirin—"  
  
"I'm fine, Major," he said gruffly. Then he registered what she'd said about the time. "Why are you up?" He sat up a little, wincing at the pain in his head.  
  
She shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she said. "How's Daniel been? Had any more nightmares?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," said Jack. "He, uh, had one...couple hours ago? I woke him...had one myself around the same time." He covered his face with his hands.  
  
"Colonel?" Sam asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"  
  
Jack sighed, and grunted, "Headache."  
  
"Should I get a nurse?"  
  
Jack shook his head, wincing and promising himself he wouldn't do it again. "I'm fine."  
  
Sam smiled slightly. If he'd said yes, she'd really be worried. The day Jack O'Neill asked for help would be the day he died. "Why don't you go back to sleep, sir?" she said. "I'll be right here."  
  
Jack sighed. "Major, you _really_ don't need to do that."  
  
Sam shrugged. She was slightly hurt, but she wasn't going to show it. "Nothing better to do," she said casually. "Good idea to have someone awake for Daniel anyway, just in case." Exploiting his weaknesses, she thought.  
  
Jack saw her reaction to his comment, and said, "Carter, I didn't mean it—I—it wasn't personal—"  
  
Sam smiled. "I know, sir. You should sleep."  
  
"So should you," he grumbled, but he settled down and closed his eyes.

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! It's really helped me so far! Thank you!


	10. Chapter 10

"Is this really that serious?" General Hammond asked that morning. "I mean, it sounds like a little virus to me."  
  
He was standing at the head of the briefing room table, Janet, Sam, and Teal'c sitting on the sides. Janet said, "Well, sir, we know it's not a virus, but at the moment I'd be reluctant to give a definite answer as to what this—purple—material really is. And it's true that they're not seriously ill, but Daniel's been sick for a few days already, and Sam had a different reaction altogether from the boys. So, I'd say that although it doesn't seem serious, I am a little wary of the situation, sir."  
  
Sam stood up. "Sir, I've looked and looked at the samples, and I can't find anything useful there. It's not even organic; it just seems like some sort of—chemical compound that's found naturally in the soil."  
  
"And that means..." General Hammond trailed off, and looked to the two scientists for help.  
  
"It means," said Janet, "that their bodies can't produce antibodies, because they're not fighting a virus or bacteria. They're fighting—or rather, don't know how to fight—a chemical. One that's not showing any signs that it's leaving their systems."  
  
"And Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson are in the infirmary now, correct?" Hammond asked.  
  
"Yes, that's correct," said Janet. She smiled a little, and said, "I don't even know if Jack realizes he's officially sick yet, not according to me at least. He thinks I'm 'letting' him stay there with Daniel..." she sighed.  
  
"Well, what are we going to do?" asked the general. "Should we wait, or should I send another team to that planet? And if I do, will it be safe for them?"  
  
Janet sighed. "I don't know, sir. The men from SG-4 are okay, but I can't assure you that any team that goes through the gate will...resist it like they have."  
  
"Well," said Hammond, "Since Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson cannot be said to be in immediate danger, I'm going to have to postpone any other missions to PY1-486."  
  
Both Sam and Janet nodded.  
  
"Dismissed," said the general, getting up. Janet and Sam stood and saluted, until he went into his office. Then Janet said, "Sam, if you don't mind, I'd like to see you in the infirmary."  
  
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In the infirmary, they found the Colonel sitting by Daniel's bed, pale-faced and sweaty. Janet had to call off the ruse and order him into bed, something he didn't take kindly to; however, he did it--after a poisonous glance at his doctor and some unintelligible muttering.  
  
Sam sat on an empty bed, waiting for Janet to finish checking up on and scolding the boys. She knew that she'd get a scolding herself: the look in the doctor's eyes in the briefing room told her that much. She twiddled her thumbs as Janet checked the vitals of her two patients, then came over to Sam.  
  
"Sam," Janet said, "If you don't get some rest I'm going to have to give you a sedative. I know you don't feel tired, and that—material may be having a stimulating effect on you, but you can't afford to do without rest entirely. Now do you want to try to sleep on your own, or do you want a shot?"  
  
Sam sighed. She hated being sedated. Hated the groggy feeling it gave her. But the fact was, she knew she wasn't going to be able to go to sleep on her own, so she said, "Sedative, please."  
  
Janet raised her eyebrows, but went to get the drug.  
  
Sam sat fidgeting until she came back. The doctor had her lay down, checked for air bubbles, squirted a little of it out to get it started, then injected it into the Major's upper arm.  
  
And waited.  
  
After five minutes, Sam said, "Janet, I feel exactly the same."  
  
Janet, who had turned around, expecting Sam to be asleep, turned back in surprise. She frowned, and went back to the medicine closet.  
  
"That should've put you down for hours," she said, checking she'd injected her friend with the right drug. Sam, who'd sat up already, shrugged.  
  
"So what do we do now?" asked Sam.  
  
"I have no idea," Janet sighed.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
By noon Daniel was awake again. He'd had a couple of nightmares—mostly the same as the one he'd had before—but Sam, Janet or Teal'c were always there to wake him up.  
  
As Janet came towards him after her lunch, she saw he was finally awake for real and came over. "Hey, Daniel," she smiled. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "Been better," he said. "Where's Jack?"  
  
"He's, uh, over there," she said, pointing behind her to the next infirmary bed.  
  
"Ah," said the hoarse man sagely. "So he's got this...thing too?"  
  
"Yes," said Janet, checking his pulse. "Do you want to know what we know about it, or would you rather wait until you're feeling better?"  
  
"Um," said Daniel, as a cool hand was placed on his forehead, "Now's good."  
  
Janet repeated what had been said at the briefing with General Hammond.  
  
"So...you don't really have any idea what it is or how to cure it," said Daniel matter-of-factly, once she'd finished.  
  
"Well, no," Janet admitted. "Sam's been through the results of her lab tests at least a hundred times, and we can't get anywhere—" she stopped suddenly.  
  
"What?" asked Daniel.  
  
"Oh, nothing," said Janet. "It's just that most of your department has no idea what that stuff from the temple says, so we have no idea what's supposedly going on."  
  
"Get it for me," the sick man said. "I'll translate it."  
  
Janet sighed. "Daniel, why do you think I stopped telling you? You need to rest, and I'm sure we'll find something..."  
  
"Come on, Janet," said Daniel. "You need somebody—" he coughed twice, painfully—"somebody who knows Bantu, and I'm almost positive we have nobody—" cough—"except me who has any idea about it." He broke off, coughing more, until Janet brought him some water. "Thanks," he said breathlessly.  
  
"Daniel," said Janet quietly, "You're not in any shape to be doing work now. You need to rest." She pulled up the blankets briskly and started to turn away.  
  
"Janet!" Daniel said angrily. She turned back. "Listen, Janet, I've been sleeping for long enough. Yes, I'm sick, but I'm not dying, and this is—boring. Let me help."  
  
Janet sighed. "Daniel, I can't do that."  
  
Daniel sighed, defeated. "Yeah, I know."

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	11. Chapter 11

Sorry it took so long to get this part up...took a long time to come up with a plot device, and plus I was away, etc...Anyway, here it is!

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Another couple of days passed, with no more information gathered. Jack and Daniel were still sick. Janet said their symptoms were similar to 'flu, and if this were an alien strain, or something like it, they should improve soon. Jack, however, was unimpressed: he was bored of being sick, and hadn't felt any improvement yet. Daniel had been asking for his research for days, and Jack was starting to agree with him: They weren't getting better, but they weren't getting worse, either. What if they stayed this way forever? They needed to get to the bottom of this.

Sam had been awake for a full week straight, and if anything, she felt more active and hyper every day. She felt almost as though she had the Attenique armband on again—which worried her a more than a little. Teal'c had finally convinced General Hammond to let him go back to the planet and retrieve some more samples, but they hadn't revealed anything they didn't already know.

It was night-time, and Sam was in her lab, peering at the now endlessly familiar particles from PY1-486. She had nothing else to do, and Janet had confined her to the base so she couldn't go home and relax. She doubted she could relax anywhere right now: quite apart from her hyperactivity, she was worried about Daniel and the Colonel.

Sam sighed and rose, pushing the microscope away from the edge of the worktable. She meandered through the hallways, past the commissary, through the briefing room to see the 'gateroom and the door to General Hammond's office. Everything was silent and empty now, everyone gone home for the night. She went up a few levels to the officers' quarters, and passed Teal'c's room. She paused: there was flickering light coming from the base of the door. Sam carefully opened the door, to see Teal'c deep in Kel'no'reem. Sensing her presence, he opened his eyes, nodded serenely, and sank back into the calming meditation. Sam smiled and closed the door.

She passed the Colonel's room: empty now; he was in the infirmary. Daniel's home-away-from-home was his office: he slept there at least half the time he was on-world. Sometimes she thought the rest of it was spent in an infirmary bed. But they had all spent more than enough time in the infirmary.

Sam stopped at her own quarters, peeked in. She grinned ruefully: she hadn't spent much time in here in the past week. Her bed was still made from a few weeks ago. The sad part was, she hadn't been home in all that time.

Her room was near the end of the hallway, so she turned around. She retraced her steps until she got to the main corridor again, and went up another few flights. This floor was where her and Daniel's lab were. Having visited her own, she stopped by Daniel's.

She opened the door carefully: you never knew where Daniel would put his stuff, Sam thought. She peeked in, to see Daniel glaring at the door.

"Daniel!" she said, surprised.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock on doors before you entered them?" He glared at her from his desk. He had a thick book in front of him, as well as his notebook, and a pencil in his hand. His desklamp was on, but other than that the room was dark.

Sam grinned, and switched the light on. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that reading in the dark makes your eyes go bad? No wonder you need glasses." She walked over to him, and leaned over the desk. "Feeling better?" She raised her eyebrows. "Janet doesn't know you're in here, does she?"

"My mother was quite fond of reading, in the dark or otherwise, and foster parents don't really care. So I guess I never got that advice." He raised his eyebrows. "And no, Janet doesn't know I'm here, and she won't know if you know what's good for you. She's gone home, actually. General's orders. Apparently 'that's what nurses are for.'"

Sam smiled again, sitting in a chair on the other side of the desk from Daniel. "Well, they can't keep ol' Doc Jackson in line..."

Daniel smiled ruefully. "Yeah, well..." He sighed. "I'm tired of being sick, you know?"

"Understandable," Sam said wryly.

Daniel sighed again. "You know what I mean...we're not really getting any worse, but we're not getting any better either. If the translation is the key to this, I'm the only one who can help me, you and Jack. I mean...well, me and Jack at least. I dunno if you're...happy that you can spend more time in your lab, or what..." He grinned, ducking his head to hide the expression.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said. "I feel like I'm on a constant sugar rush." She shook her head. "Jittery, you know?" She smiled slightly. "So, you still haven't answered my question."

"And that would be..."

"Are you feeling better at all?" She looked hopefully at him. Maybe the disease was going away on its own. If he could manage to traverse the halls of the SGC...

"Mmm," he said, grimacing. "Not really in general... At night it's better, for some reason. Not as many people, maybe. The less people around, the better it is, at least that's what Jack says."

"Really?" Sam frowned. "Weird. I wonder—" She looked worriedly at Daniel. "Am I making you feel worse now?"

"A little." He shrugged. She got up to leave, but he stopped her. "No, stay. I was enjoying the company."

"If you're sure..." she said cautiously, sitting down again.

Daniel smiled reassuringly, and looked briefly down at the notebook he was working on.

"Found anything?" Sam asked, curious.

"Mmm...not much," Daniel replied. "I think it was a matriarchal society. Most of it's just pictures, so it's pretty open to interpretation..." he sighed. "They didn't like men much. That's all I've really found out." He frowned. "What's strange is the level of technology they seem to have had. According to the few bits of real writing I saw, they're pretty technologically advanced, but there's no evidence of it there. A little like Niirti, actually..."

Sam was alarmed. "Niirti's been there?"

Daniel looked up, surprised. "Oh, no. I mean, I doubt it. Those ruins are pretty old. I'm just saying she used sort of secret labs, secret technology. And although—as I said—there's evidence of technology in the writing, we didn't see any evidence of it."

"Do you think the...disease is another attempt to create a hok'tar?" Sam asked.

Daniel speculated. "Actually, that might be. But of three people who've been...infected, only you have shown any...signs of abnormality. Well," he amended, at her look, "any 'good' signs. I mean, I doubt a goa'uld would enjoy being in a host that's sick all the time."

"Do you think it affected me differently because I'm female?" Sam asked. "I mean, if it's got females as the dominant gender, that might make sense."

"Yeah, it would," Daniel said. "But the problem with our...theory here is, if the host had a goa'uld, it wouldn't matter if the host was sick, because the goa'uld could cure it, right? And if it didn't have to sleep, wouldn't it already not have to sleep—again, because of the goa'uld?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe that's why the goa'uld abandoned the experiment."

"Yeah..." Daniel sighed. "I dunno. The female idea is good; I don't see how it could be anything different. But there's no evidence of goa'ulds at all."

"Well, if it was really a primitive race, they'd need to get the technology from somewhere."

Daniel shrugged. "Maybe it was just natural? Maybe the disease...or whatever it was just did this naturally, and it made the females seem strong and the males weak?" He sighed, and put his head in his hands, closing his eyes.

Sam caught the act quickly. "Headache?" She asked.

Daniel grimaced. "Yeah. What time is it? Usually it doesn't come back this early."

Sam glanced at her watch. "0600," she said, as surprised as Daniel that it was almost time for the day to begin. "You better go back to the infirmary if you don't want your butt chewed. And don't blame me, okay? It's not my fault you decided to take a little walk."

Daniel shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Do you think you could help me back? I seem to get dizzy a lot." He smiled in apology.

"Sure," she said, standing and walking around the desk to Daniel's side. She looked at the papers Daniel had been working on. Unnoticed by Sam, Daniel had been making notes during their conversation. Daniel followed her gaze, and smiled. "We do good work, Major," he said. She grinned at his rare use of her title.

They walked slowly, Daniel leaning on Sam some of the time, but mostly walking on his own. When they were almost at the infirmary, they saw Janet come out of it.

"Daniel!" she exclaimed. "I was about to put the base on alert. Where were you?" She glared at Sam, "C'mon, back to bed, Daniel."

"It wasn't Sam's fault," Daniel protested. "She was, um, looking for me. And she...found me in my office. And, um, convinced me to come back..."

The look on Janet's face told Sam she wasn't buying it, and Sam hovered, not wanting to get in trouble, but also not wanting Daniel to be at her mercy. 'He's already at her mercy, stupid,' she thought, but she stayed: she wanted to see the Colonel, if she was allowed.

Janet had taken the situation in her control. Daniel was sitting on 'his' bed, and Janet giving him a once-over, making sure his adventure hadn't given him any bruises or scrapes. "I'm fine, Janet," Daniel protested. Janet leveled a gaze at him, and he amended, "Okay, I'm as fine as I have been in the past week. Happy?"

"No," she said, smiling a little once she knew he wasn't worse. "Daniel, it's the Colonel's job to sneak out of the infirmary, not yours..."

"Actually," said Colonel said from a few feet away, "It's my job to corrupt the youth of America, whether by suggestion or example. Colonel O'Neill saves the day, and all that. Another successful mission; Daniel has discovered the delight of not obeying his doctor." Jack smiled cheekily under Janet's harsh glare.

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	12. Chapter 12

Can't say I really love this chapter...Tell me what you think! (And please, I am fishing for comments, not compliments....if it stinks, please say so.) -Emmy

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General Hammond, sighing internally, called yet another meeting to order. This one was exactly like the one twenty-four hours ago, and the one twenty-four hours before that, and on for six days. Nothing had changed: his 2IC was still sick, as was the revered and friendly Dr. Jackson. Major Carter was twice as restless as Colonel O'Neill was, but at least today she looked positive. His CMO looked thoughtful, which was a lot better than it had been: she tended to blame herself for anything that happened to the SG units, and hadn't been at all cheerful lately. Teal'c, of course, was Teal'c. His presence hadn't been needed for the past few days: his expertise was in go'a'ulds, and there had been no evidence linking the planet to the go'a'ulds in any way. But today was looking different from the other days: maybe they were finally on the way to a cure for this strange disease.

"Major Carter," said the general, "I assume today's news is somewhat more promising than the past few days?"

"Uh, yes, sir," she said. "Thanks to Daniel," she added, smiling a little. Janet hadn't been happy with him, but his little escapade had finally pointed them in the right direction. She explained the situation, and then said, "I've talked to Teal'c, and he says it's entirely possible that there could be a radical feminist go'a'uld out there... but he doesn't know of any particular one. He also says that the idea of this kind of evolutionary nudge was more likely meant to be for the slaves and Jaffa: the females could get a lot of work done."

"Indeed," Teal'c helpfully supplied. "However, the males would get little or no work done."

"Sir," Sam said, "I'd like to talk to Daniel and the Colonel about this thing with being around people making them feel worse. I have a hunch..."

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"Sorry, sir, Daniel," Sam said. "I know you'd rather not experiment with this. But I have a hunch..."

"...This might work. Anything to finish this damned...thing. And it's not like we'll die. Just get on with it." Jack was lying in bed, irritable but compliant.

"Daniel?" asked Sam. "You guys sure you want to do this?"

Daniel smiled slightly. His eyes were closed against the headache pounding in his skull, but he was listening carefully. "Sam, it's not like it's gonna be much different from any other time...nurses have been coming through here the whole time we've been here. Bringing other people in probably won't make a difference."

"Yeah, well..."

"Just get on with it, Major!" Jack growled. "C'mon, I'm getting bored."

"Uh, yes sir." Sam said. "Okay, I want you to just concentrate on how you feel, okay?"

"I'd rather not," Jack muttered.

"Shut up," Daniel replied. "Like you said, let's get on with it."

Sam carefully stepped away from the wall, where she was standing, and made her way slowly to her two team-mates. Both had their eyes closed. Sam carefully touched Daniel on the shoulder, and he flinched. "Sorry," she said, snatching her hand back.

"No, it's okay," said Daniel, relaxing. "I just didn't know you were there."

Sam looked pensively at him. Daniel, his eyes open now, gazed unashamedly back at her. "Daniel, I know you're used to hiding any pain you might feel, but that's against the point of the experiment at the moment. I mean...don't scream out in agony if you don't want to, but tell me if something I do hurts you."

Daniel smiled. "I'm hardly in agony, Sam."

Sam snorted. "Yeah, well, considering everything we've been through, your definition of agony might be much more...agonizing than a normal person's."

"Carter, give us a break! We feel rotten, yes, but we're not dying. Just sick and bored out of our minds. If you really want to make it up to us, sneak a game boy or two in here afterwards." Jack gave her the O'Neill Glare. Fortunately, it wasn't as potent as usual, due to the watery quality of the eyes utilizing said Glare.

"Um..." Sam thought for a minute. "I think I have an idea."

"Uh-oh," the Colonel muttered. "Here we go."

Sam smiled a little. "Don't worry, I won't have to explain it to you. But...just give me a few minutes, okay?" She saw Janet coming over, and started talking quietly to her.

"Janet," Sam said, "your nurses are mostly female, right?"

"Right," said Janet, not quite sure where _exactly_ this was going, but eager. She knew that anything Sam would be working on would have to do with Daniel and Jack. Not only was she slightly worried about the lack of improvement in her patients, she was also ready to try anything to get Colonel O'Neill out of her infirmary.

"How many in total?"

"Nurses?"

"Yeah."

"Uhm..." Janet did a quick mental tally. "Ten today. A total of thirty-five if you got all the nurses together."

"How many are female?"

"Eight today, thirty-one in total."

"All right. Is Dr. Warner here today too?"

"Uh...I think so...why all the questions? What's this about?"

"Just give me a minute, okay? Are there any other patients?"

Janet frowned. "No...well, I suppose you're technically an outpatient..."

Sam waved that aside. "Listen. Can we take all your female staff, you and myself out of the mountain?"

"Well...I _could..._ But why? And you're not allowed off-base..."

Sam sighed. "Not to go anywhere. Listen, mostly Daniel and the Colonel have been around infirmary staff, which are mostly female. The rest of the base is mostly male, so that doesn't matter."

"_What_ doesn't matter?"

"I think when they say they feel sick 'around people,' they really mean 'around women.' If we went away from them, we could figure out if my theory is correct."

Janet nodded slowly. "Okay," she said carefully, "but where will we go? How far away do people—women—have to be for this?"

Sam shook her head. "I don't know. But it's worth a shot. And I was thinking NORAD."

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	13. Chapter 13

Janet looked around, amused. It was a few hours later, and she was sitting with eight nurses, Sam, and a few female officers and airmen in an empty room on one of NORAD's floors. They made a funny group, Janet thought: All the women on base today. There were usually about 150 people working for the Stargate program at any one time, and females only comprised 1/15th. But the group was having fun.

Daniel and Jack were the only patients, and they were being tended—as much as they needed to be, which wasn't a whole lot—by Dr. Warner and the two male nurses. The plan was to stay up here for an hour, and then go back down and see if it had made a difference. It had already been almost an hour, so they would be going back down soon. Janet doubted an hour _would_ have made a difference, but she still hoped it had, for her patients' sakes.

Janet was also a little worried about Sam, even not taking into account the fact that the Major hadn't slept in five days. Sam was leaning over her chair, elbows on her knees, head in her hands. Janet walked over and sat next to her, quietly placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You okay?"

Sam jerked upright. "What?" She processed the question, then answered, "Uh, yeah. Fine." She looked tense.

Janet raised her eyebrows unbelievingly. "Right," she said. "And I'm dating the colonel."

Sam looked strangely at her friend, but didn't bite. "Sorry," she said. "I really do feel okay, though. Just really, really hyper. I think I might explode if I don't do something."

Janet frowned, silent.

"Think I'll go to the gym for a while after we get down there again," Sam said a minute later.

"I don't want you there alone," Janet said.

Sam frowned. "Fine; there's always somebody there. Why?"

Janet smiled slightly. "Don't beat me up for this, but the last time I saw someone like this it was when you guys had the Attenique armbands on. And the time before that, it was when Daniel was addicted to the sarcophagus. And both times it didn't end all that prettily for you guys."

Sam winced. "Oh. Right." She thought for a minute. "Wait...you don't mean...we were acting kinda weird then..."

Janet shook her head. "No, you're a little edgy, but I don't think you're a danger to anyone—at least not yet. Just...try and go easy on the gym equipment, will you?" Janet said, thinking of the punching bag and wall Jack had damaged accidentally the last time he had acquired 'incredible speed and strength.'

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It _had_ worked, if only for the time the women were up in NORAD. Apparently, Jack and Daniel, had felt much better, and the data taken down by Dr. Warner and the male nurses were better too. But as soon as Sam and Janet walked in they started feeling sick again.

It had taken a while, though. It was as if they were getting sick all over again. The blood tests done when Jack and Daniel were not around the women had still had the purple stuff in their blood, but it seemed to be dormant. As soon as the women came back it started up again.

"So we can't be around girls anymore?" Jack asked, upon hearing that this proved the experiment had proven something. "That's...bad..."

Daniel sniffed, feeling his nose start to clog again. "So what are you going to do?" he asked Janet and Sam.

Janet sighed. "Well, we've discovered something about the disease, but I don't really see how it's helped us...unless you want to be hermits and never see a woman again..." She trailed off as both men shook their heads emphatically. "Right," she said. "I figured." She gave a little smile. "So, essentially we're back where we started. No practical way to treat this, and no information on how to attempt to do so..." Janet sighed.

"Well, actually," Daniel speculated, "This means—" He broke off, thinking, as Jack, Sam and Janet watched him. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his brow: his headache was starting again, dammit. They had to find a way to stop this. "Teal'c said the...thing going on with Sam would make women able to work more, right? And the flaw was that they'd still get as much work done, because the men couldn't do any. But if the men weren't _with_ women, they wouldn't be sick, and they could still do the regular amount of work. If I could get my notes, I could look and see if I'm right..." He broke off, clearing his throat as the mucous found its way in there. "Dammit," he muttered.

Janet sighed again. She knew the only way they were going to solve this one was with Daniel's expertise. But looking at him, she knew he was just starting to feel horrible again. "Later, okay?" she asked, moving closer and settling him into the bed. Daniel grimaced, but thanked her, and Janet moved to Jack to do the same thing.

The doctor got some aspirin for her patients, then looked at Sam, who had been silent for a while. "Hey," she said, slightly worried. "You okay?" The woman was pale and solemn. Sam looked uncomprehendingly at her. Janet put her hand on her friend's forehead, slightly worried at the warmth. Sam stepped away from it. "I'm fine," she said dismissively.

Janet looked at her skeptically. "Right," she said. "I want you to sit on the bed for a minute, okay?" She gestured to a bed close to where they were standing. Sam rolled her eyes, but did as she was told.

Five minutes later, Janet was feeling some serious déjà vu. Aside from the Sam-can-see-in-the-dark thing that had happened last time, this was just like the Attenique situation. Janet had taken Sam's temperature: it was about a degree and a half above normal. She'd drawn blood and sent it off to the lab, and was currently taking Sam's BP.

"Sphygmomanometer," Sam said, smiling slightly, as she looked at the blood pressure cuff currently being wrapped around her arm. Janet looked at her, puzzled, and Sam said, "I was so proud of being able to say that when I was a kid."

Janet smiled, and pumped up the cuff. "A little high," she said, after watching the meter. She removed the cuff and put it away, groaning internally. Now was the hard part. She returned to Sam. "I need you to tell me exactly how you're feeling."

Sam sighed. "Janet..."

"Sam," Janet replied. She was not going to give in this time!

Sam closed her eyes in a plea for patience. "Janet, I really do feel fine. Wired, yes, but fine."

Janet sighed. "Just...humor me, okay? You really don't look fine, so I doubt you feel fine. Just...give me a similar situation or something; we'll try to work from there."

Sam frowned, thinking. "I guess...Kinda how I felt when I was on Apophis's ship when it was about to blow up."

Janet frowned. "Which time would that be?"

Sam grinned. "Strange, how many times we've done that... but I was talking about the time with those armbands. You know, and Anise."

"Okay," said Janet, "So...you had a fever then too. And you had a lot of adrenaline in your system. I think we'd have noticed if your adrenaline levels were higher than normal, but the...stuff could act like it, I suppose. Cause a similar effect in women's bodies."

"But...with the armbands, you said later that our blood tests had shown organ failure, right?"

"Yes, and I don't have enough information to tell if that's happening to you or not," Janet said. "For what it's worth, I doubt that's the case." She smiled reassuringly. "In fact, this may be a good thing. By the time you were on the ship, your body was already fighting the virus, so maybe that's what's happening now."

"A good thing," said Sam. "Right."

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	14. Chapter 14

"Dammit!" Daniel, sitting up in bed, threw the papers he was holding onto the covers. "It's just pictures," he muttered. "I don't think I can go any farther with this."

They were allowed to get up now, and only the male nurses approached them. Janet was still in charge, and Sam visited often, but they tried to stay as far away as possible, given the circumstances. It irked Jack, and probably Daniel too, although he didn't show it. Jack had finally ordered Sam to get Daniel's notes. "He's the only one who can do anything now, even if he can't," said Jack cryptically. Janet, despite her usual misgivings to working while ill, had given in almost gratefully this time: she would never say so out loud, but she was starting to feel out of her depth. Medicine hadn't helped them at all; nor had rest: this was, as far as she could tell, uncurable. But she was damned if she was going to give in. So she'd let Daniel look the papers over.

Jack was sitting by Daniel's bed, in the chair usually reserved for members of the SGC waiting for their wounded or sick to wake up. But despite feeling congested and dizzy, he, too, was more than ready to get better, and so, was trying his best to help Daniel with his culture stuff. Something familiar caught his eye. "Hang on," he said, putting his hand on the archaeologist's shoulder to keep him from shuffling the papers more. "What's this?" He drew a printout of a photograph from the pile. It was a highly decorated box, with a picture of a man—definitely a man—very naked, and being subjected to some sort of...was it lightning? Daniel didn't know. That was one of the more bewildering pictures.

Daniel looked over at Jack, puzzled. "What? I couldn't figure that one out."

"Here," Jack said, running his fingers lightly around the box. "Looks Arabic."

Daniel looked closer, and did, in fact, see it. "Yeah..." he said fascinated. He gazed at it a second longer, then looked up at Jack. "I didn't even see that!" He turned his attention to the photograph.

Sam had been watching interestedly from the other side of the infirmary. She approached cautiously, staying about six feet back. "Find anything?" she asked.

Sam was starting to look a little the worse for wear, Jack thought. Kinda like Daniel on a caffeine high, when he hadn't slept in about a week. But, he reminded himself, Carter _hadn't_ slept in a week. Daniel had ignored her question, so Jack decided to ask a question of his own of Sam. "You okay?" he asked.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Better than you," she replied. "Daniel?"

The man sighed. "It's too small to read. I need my laptop, or a larger picture of this." He tossed the sheet back into his lap.

Sam nodded. "I'll get your laptop right now." She turned and left the infirmary.

"Jack?" asked Daniel.

"Yeah?"

"How'd you know it was Arabic?" The younger man was clearly puzzled as to the sudden revelation that his friend wasn't as stupid as he acted. Well, Daniel knew Jack wasn't stupid, but he never indicated he _knew_ stuff...

"Uh...I've been to the Middle East, Daniel." His tone was clipped. _Don't go there,_ it said. Daniel understood and backed off.

"So...can you read it?" At Jack's steady gaze, he stammered, "Just—just...if there's two translators, it'll go faster..."

Jack smiled slightly, and shook his head. "I can speak some of the dialects, and I can recognize the writing, but I can't put the two together. Sorry."

They lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Jack picked up the other pictures and squinted to see if they contained any hidden writing, but didn't see any more.

About five minutes later, Sam came with Daniel's laptop. "Here it is," she said. "Hope it helps." She handed it over, then retreated back to a 'safe' distance.

Daniel turned on the computer and opened the picture up, blowing it up slightly more than it was in the photograph. "Yeah..." he said. "I can translate this." He gazed at the picture for a while, moving his fingers in order to manipulate the picture on screen, and then frowned. "That's weird," he murmured.

"What?" Jack asked warily.

"Well, it's in Go'a'uld. I mean, the writing is Arabic, but the language is clearly Go'a'uld." He sighed. "And it's a dialect I don't know well enough. We should really get Teal'c in here."

"I'll get him," Sam volunteered.

Daniel winced. "You don't have to, Sam. I feel guilty treating you like a messenger..."

"Don't," she said, smiling slightly. "It's in my best interest. I'm going crazy just sitting here." She winced at the way that sounded. "I mean, I do want to be here for you guys...but –"

"Just shut up, Carter, or you'll choke on your foot. Shoo! Go get Teal'c and then we can get better and have a party with ice cream and pizza and beer. Okay?"

"Uh, okay, Sir." She stepped out of the infirmary once more.

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An hour later, the box was translated. Teal'c and Daniel had been conversing in hushed tones for a while now, and Sam was next to Jack, who was back in bed upon his discovery that he could do no more for his intrepid archaeologist.

Apparently there was a room on the planet that was meant to cure men. They could be re-infected, but usually the treatment held off the purple buggers for a few days. The treatment was painful, but didn't harm the participants for longer than it took to cure them.

The reason for the room, Daniel found out, was so the species didn't die out. The males had to be well enough to mate with the women, so there had to be a way to cure them for that purpose. Daniel postulated the room was somewhere around that temple: probably a hidden room.

They prepared and planned for the trip there.

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